Finding the Only One Tree Hill
by Emily Carol
Summary: Future Fic. Coping with their new and past lives Lucas, Nathan, Haley, and Peyton live a different life in Tree Hill than before, including their now teenaged children and Brooke’s mysterious return to Tree Hill as she finds the only One Tree Hill
1. Prologue

Finding the Only One Tree Hill

By Emily Carol

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill, just the CDs and DVDs and my obsession with James Lafferty. On the other hand…Jessica, Michelle, Lauren, and Justin are all mine! So don't steal.

AN: So I've never written One Tree Hill fanfiction before, but please don't stop reading right now. I have had some experience previously with Gilmore Girls and Alias but lately have been just writing original fiction, but here's my debut back into fanfiction, I hope you enjoy!

**Prologue**

_One Tree Hill, North Carolina_

"Move, move, move," 39-year-old Lucas Scott yelled down the court. It was summer and he was coaching basketball down at the local YMCA as part of a summer camp while on break from his job as English-Lit teacher and head girl's basketball coach at One Tree Hill High School, which went back to session in two weeks.

"How's it going big bro?" Nathan asked as he walked up behind Lucas.

"Not bad," Lucas said as he laughed as one of the first graders went chasing after the ball after she'd dropped it and it began to roll down the court. He loved coaching little kids in the summer; it made him remember why the game was so much fun, because at any age it was still a blast.

"Okay, well I'm heading home, Haley's waiting for me and we're going to TRIC tonight, Justin's playing," Nathan said.

"Come on, try not to sound so disappointed," Lucas teased Nathan. "It's you who supplied the sex gene; the wrong ones just went to the wrong kid. You've got Jessica as your basketball star." A few months before they graduated Duke University, Haley had discovered she was pregnant with twins; luckily she and Nathan had both graduated before she had the babies even though the boy and girl were born about a month and a half early because Haley was too small to carry them to term.

Both of them loved Justin and Jessica, who were now sixteen, to death, but it was always a teasing point in the family that Justin and Jessica needed to trade lives because Justin scorned basketball and was musically talented and Jessica was pretty much tone deaf but was the star of Girl's Varsity Basketball at Tree Hill High.

"Okay, well see you tomorrow at the games," Lucas said. The final games for the basketball camp were that Saturday, the next day actually, and then Lucas and Nathan would each have two weeks before heading back to work at Tree Hill High, Nathan was a gym coach and the head boy's basketball coach.

"No, tonight, dinner, remember?" Nathan reminded Lucas, every few weeks those of their group left in Tree Hill got together for dinner, a tradition that Haley refused to let go of, ever, even when Lucas had his appendix removed, she insisted that they all ate in the hospital cafeteria together that night.

"Got it, see you then."

_New York City, New York_

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you!" Brooke Davis yelled at her seventeen-year old daughter Lauren Davis.

"You could do nothing, that's what Grandma and Grandpa did with you," Lauren retaliated.

"No, because I don't want you to end up like me," Brooke said.

"Why not? You've got a great life, we live in one of the fanciest apartments, you're an internationally known designer, what could be wrong with this picture?"

"That my seventeen-year-old daughter is out drinking and coming home drunk in the middle of the night!" Brooke yelled.

"So what? You did it when you were my age. Younger in fact," Lauren bit back.

"How do you even know that?" Brooke asked.

"It's obvious," Lauren said. "Plus Grandma told me about it when I spent that week in California with them last summer."

"Just because I did it doesn't mean its right, maybe if I had made better judgments when I was your age I wouldn't be living this life right now, I'd be living a better one," Brooke lectured. She'd never been one for responsibility until a few years ago.

"What could be better than this?" Lauren asked.

"A lot of things," Brooke said.

Brooke had discovered she was pregnant at the beginning of her senior year of college and instead of telling any of her friends, she ran. She ran to New York and finished up her last year of college at NYU, in fashion design, before launching her own fashion line. It had been a hit and she'd been able to live comfortably with Lauren, but she'd never returned home to One Tree Hill. She knew that Nathan and Lucas were teachers at the high school there and she was pretty sure Peyton's recording studio she owned was down there too. She also knew that Peyton had gotten married the year after she left; her parents forwarded her the invitation Peyton had sent to them in an attempt to make contact with Brooke.

Other than that, Brooke knew nothing of life in Tree Hill, and every day she missed it. And then her revelation came upon her, she had to go back. Lauren was going to be a junior, over halfway through her high school career, but Brooke had to get her out of New York, it wasn't good for her.

But would leaving New York be good fro Brooke? Her life was here, her design studios, her fashions.

But Lauren came first, Lauren had always come first.

"That's it," Brooke told her daughter.

"Huh?" Lauren looked her funny.

"We're moving," Brooke said.

"We're WHAT?" Lauren screamed, wondering how her mom could come to such a decision so quickly.

"Well, this has always been in the back of my mind," oh, that's how, "but we're moving back to my hometown. We're going to Tree Hill."

The words were out of Brooke's mouth before she realized that if she went back, it meant a whole lot of questions.

Including the one she didn't want to answer the most; who was Lauren's father?


	2. Jealous Guy

**Finding the Only One Tree Hill**

By Emily Carol

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill, just the CDs and DVDs and my obsession with James Lafferty. On the other hand…Jessica, Michelle, Lauren, and Justin are all mine! So don't steal. Also do not own the song Jealous Guy by Gavin DeGraw

**A/N**: Thanks for the reviews, I'm hoping for more. Anyways, if you've already read I want to say that I made one adjustment in the prologue which is that, while Lauren is still seventeen, she is only going to be a junior since I wanted her in the same grade as the other three. It will be explained later why she's seventeen at the beginning of her junior year when she should really be a senior.

Enjoy!

-_Emily Carol_

**Chapter 1**: _Jealous Guy_

"Liar," Lucas said as Nathan opened the door to his and Haley's house in Tree Hill.

"Huh?" Nathan asked.

"You said you had to leave because Justin was playing at TRIC, well, we have dinner before then so you really didn't need to leave early, did you?" Lucas accused him.

"Shut up and come in," Nathan said.

"That's no way to treat our guest," Haley said as she walked into the foyer. "Oh wait, it's just Luke."

"Hey sis," Lucas said.

"Hi B.I.L," Haley laughed, giving Lucas a hug.

"I really wish she'd forget that nickname," Lucas rolled his eyes. "What's for dinner?"

"Chinese take-out," Haley said. When it was said that the group had dinner together once a week, it didn't mean that anybody actually cooked, except for the restaurants they ordered from.

"You're kidding," Justin Scott said, coming into the foyer. "We had Chinese take-out last time."

"Shut up Justin," Jessica said, bouncing a basketball. "Hey Luke, how are your little first graders doing? Do they need a real player to come in and show them what to do?"

"They might, you know any?" Lucas teased his niece.

"Think fast," Jessica said, throwing the basketball at Lucas's face. He barely managed to catch it.

"Take it outside," Haley said with a laugh. Jessica constantly liked to challenge her uncle to one-on-one games, especially because it meant that if she won she could gloat that she could beat her coach, not that it stopped her from listening to him though. Thank God she hadn't inherited that trait from the Scott family.

Lucas turned and opened the front door as he and Jessica headed out, followed by Justin, to see Peyton and her fifteen year old daughter, Michelle, walking up the front yard.

"Peyton!" Haley said, running and giving her friend a hug. "What, no John tonight?" Haley referred to Peyton's husband, John Matthews.

"Apparently not and apparently never again," Michelle said coldly. "Somebody had to drive him away."

"Michelle, go off with Justin and Jessica," Peyton said. Even though Michelle was younger than the Scott twins they were still in the same grade, she'd started a year earlier than she should have so they were all going to be juniors together the following year. None of them really had much in common, Justin was the musician, Jessica the athlete, and Michelle the artist, but they still got along pretty well.

Michelle stormed off.

"What was that about?" Haley asked.

"John left and took all his stuff," Peyton said. "Wait, I lied, he left one thing, the divorce papers."

"I didn't know you two were having problems," Haley said sympathetically.

"I didn't want anybody to know, I thought we could work through it but he's cheated on me and we weren't happy, we haven't been happy for years," Peyton said. "I'm kind of relieved but Michelle's pissed, not that I blame her."

"Well at least you don't have to deal with him then," Haley said.

"Haley James Scott, stop it," Peyton said.

"Stop what?"

"Giving me pity looks," Peyton said. "I'm actually kind of happy; we weren't like you and Nathan who have been madly in love with each other for twenty years."

"I wouldn't say madly, remember all those rough patches from when I came back from the tour with Chris?" Haley asked.

"All of which were rectified, excluding minor fights, after the whole hostage situation in our senior year," Peyton pointed out. "You were able to go back to your music even."

"That's only because my best friend owns a recording studio down the street from my house," Haley said as she led Peyton inside.

Peyton had majored in music business in college and worked for a large record label for a few years before opening up her own company in Tree Hill which did pretty well since Haley James Scott had become their first client and had never strayed. Also, since Peyton moved back down to Tree Hill she was able to take over TRIC almost completely from Karen.

Justin and Michelle sat perched on the stone wall along the half court basketball court at the Scott's house. Jessica and Lucas were playing basketball, Nathan was heckling his brother from the sideline as he also cheered on his daughter.

"I'm sorry about your dad," Justin said.

"Yeah well, at least maybe I'll get away from my mom," Michelle said. She and Peyton didn't have the strongest relationship despite Peyton's attempts otherwise.

"What does your dad leaving have to do with you getting away from your mom?" Justin was puzzled.

"Well duh, I can choose to live with him," Michelle said.

"But then you wouldn't be here anymore," Justin said cautiously. He and Michelle had been dating for a year and a half but lately things had been on the rocks.

"Thank God, I hate Tree Hill," Michelle commented as she pulled a pen out of her back pocket and began to draw on her ankle, a habit she had been doing her entire life.

"But what about us?" Justin asked.

Michelle laughed, "Come on Justin, what did you think? That we'd end up like Nathan and Haley? It's totally unreal."

"But my mom and dad aren't unreal, they exist," Justin pointed out lamely.

"Yeah, but if they hadn't been held hostage in their senior year, who knows where they would be right now, most likely you and Jessica wouldn't exist," Michelle said coldly.

"Michelle," Justin said sharply.

"Justin," Michelle mimicked Justin's reaction.

"Come on Michelle, talk to me," Justin said softly, trying to get his girlfriend to put down that shield she liked to hide behind. The shield, as his mother had told him, she'd inherited from Peyton.

"I don't want to talk," Michelle snapped as she capped the pen and stood up, walking away from the basketball court and towards the house.

"When are you on?" Haley asked her son as he tuned his guitar.

"Any minute now," Justin said, trying to concentrate but his spat with Michelle was preoccupying his mind.

"Nervous?" His mom inquired.

"Not enough to stuff myself under the dressing table," Justin said, his voice a little lighter. The first time Justin had played TRIC, a year ago, Haley had told him the story about when she had first gone on tour and how nervous she had been. Justin liked to tease her about it every time he played.

Justin was a regular to play at TRIC on all ages nights, every Friday, when there wasn't a band that Peyton had brought in. He had his own music but always threw in a bunch of covers as well which was a good crowd pleaser since they ranged from oldies to more current music, perfect for all ages night.

Brooke looked at the large house looming in front of her, Lauren was still in the car Brooke had bought, pouting about having to leave New York City, basically the only city she'd ever known, although the two did have frequent trips to Milan.

Brooke's stomach was in knots as she realized that this was it, she was back in Tree Hill.

Justin basked in the crowd's approval, he lived for moments like this. All of his incessant practicing was for these moments. He leaned forward towards the microphone.

"It's been great playing for you all tonight, I'm going to end it with an old favorite by Gavin DeGraw," Justin said into his mic. He hadn't planned to play this song but after his encounter with Michelle earlier, he needed a song for her. "This is for you Michelle," he said before beginning to play. "I was dreaming of the past/And my heart was beating fast/I began to lose control/I began to lose control."

Michelle looked up in disbelief. He was trying to make up with her through a song at All Ages Night? Was he crazy? This song didn't even have anything to do with their fight earlier.

"I didn't mean to hurt you/I'm sorry that I made you cry/I didn't want to hurt you/I'm just a jealous guy."

Michelle headed towards the exit of the club, she didn't want to hear any more of this crap. Justin was just being an idiot.

"Where are you going?" her mother asked.

"Just leave me alone," Michelle snapped as she walked away. Peyton sighed, not sure what to do.

"I was feeling insecure/you might not love me anymore/I was shivering inside/I was shivering inside."

Justin kept putting more feeling into the words, especially the last few lines. Did Michelle still love him? She had claimed to at one point, but did she anymore?

Michelle forced the tears back as she maneuvered past what appear to be two sisters as she left TRIC. She didn't want to cry, but Justin did that to her with the song. Michelle hated that the lyrics were right. Maybe the song was appropriate for them, but Michelle didn't want to deal with it anymore.

"I didn't mean to hurt you/I'm sorry that I made you cry/I didn't want to hurt you/No I didn't/I'm just a jealous guy."

Brooke looked as a girl rushed past her and Lauren as they made their way into TRIC, Brooke hoping for some friendly faces. The girl's blonde hair resembled Peyton's as Brooke had remembered it, but the girl couldn't have been older than sixteen. Did Peyton have a daughter? Brooke couldn't remember if she'd ever heard anything to that extent.

She turned her attention to the stage and noticed the young boy singing, he looked like Haley, but his piercing blue eyes were all Nathan's. Haley and Nathan must have a son, Brooke had missed so much.

"I'm jealous/Jealous/Jealous/I'm jealous/jealous/jealous/I'm jealous/jealous/jealous/I'm jealous/jealous."

Peyton looked worriedly at the exit of TRIC where Michelle had disappeared to but suddenly she found herself looking at the two brunettes who had entered the club.

"Brooke?" She asked herself. The air that the older woman was giving off was definitely the same air she remembered of Brooke before she'd disappeared their senior year of college. But who was the girl who didn't appear to be much younger.

Brooke felt eyes on her and looked towards the bar. There she was. Brooke walked to the bar and leaned on the counter as she said meekly to Peyton, "Hi best friend."

"I'm just a jealous guy."


	3. Happy Reunion?

**Finding the Only One Tree Hill**By Emily Carol

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill, just the CDs and DVDs and my obsession with James Lafferty. On the other hand…Jessica, Michelle, Lauren, and Justin are all mine! So don't steal.

**A/N**: So…I'm evil. I happen to run my own website where I post my fanfiction and some original writing and I decided to post this new chapter there first and then make it sort of a way for more people to check out my site (since it just came out of a one-year never announced hiatus, I'm just talented)…tricky, I know. Well I posted that new chapter Saturday night and planned to post it here on Monday but…polo sucks, I had a game and too much to do so…a day later than I planned, here's my story! (but if you want to possibly get updates faster…the link to my website is in my profile!)

Enjoy!

-Emily Carol

**Chapter 2: **_Happy Reunion…?_

Peyton couldn't manage to raise her voice over the cheers and applause for Justin's performance. Instead, she just stared at Brooke in disbelief.

Peyton hadn't seen Brooke in almost eighteen years, but she was still Brooke. Her long brown hair was a slightly lighter shade with slightly darker highlights, but was still worn straight and down. Her clothes were classic Brooke, nothing Peyton had ever seen around Tree Hill, despite the teenage girls and rich mothers who spent forever focusing on what they looked like. Peyton still maintained her jeans and concert shirts attire, much to the horror of her daughter.

The applause slowly died down but when Peyton could finally talk over it, she didn't know what to say. Brooke was back, her best friend who had left without a trace at the beginning of their senior year of college. Peyton had tried to contact her when she was getting married to John but Brooke hadn't sent back any response.

"Surprise," Brooke tried again, smiling.

"Yeah, it is," Peyton said, still in shock.

"I'm back," Brooke said, acting as if nothing had ever happened. As if she hadn't left eighteen years ago and as if she hadn't had contact with anybody since then.

"Yeah, you are," Peyton said. She didn't seem excited.

"Aren't you excited?"

"Should I be? Really Brooke? Should I be excited that you're back?" Peyton's anger towards Brooke for leaving and not being with her during the difficult times she'd gone through in the past eighteen years. "Because in case you don't remember, you left eighteen years ago Brooke, and you haven't been back! You haven't called or written or attempted any contact at all. You just left and now you suddenly pop up in my club and you expect me to welcome you with open arms? Where have you been for eighteen years Brooke? Where were you when I got married or when I had my daughter? Where were you when my husband cheated on me and we went through an awful marriage? Where were you when my dad died? You weren't here Brooke and I don't have to be excited that you're back because I stopped hoping and I stopped caring."

Peyton turned on her heel and stormed out the back exit of TRIC, her blonde locks bouncing as she tried to push back tears, much of a repeat of her daughter.

Brooke stood in stunned silence, Lauren still standing next to her.

"So I guess Tree Hill isn't as nice as you thought," Lauren commented rudely.

"Lauren, go mingle," Brooke said, still in shock at Peyton's blow up. Lauren shrugged and walked away, just to the other side of the bar where she ordered a beer using her fake ID.

Haley hugged her son as he walked off stage, "you were great," she told him. "Now I'm off to find where your father and Lucas got off to, we're meeting at the door at midnight, be there."

"Okay Mom," Justin said, hugging his mom again.

Justin put his guitar away and headed back into the rest of TRIC to try and find Michelle. Maybe they could patch things up, at least he hoped they could.

"Mom?" Michelle asked. Peyton had just emerged onto the back steps behind TRIC, tears trickling out of her eyes.

"Hey honey," Peyton said. "Why did you run out like that? During Justin's performance?"

"Because he's trying to make me stay," Michelle said. "He's trying to win his way back into my heart with his stupid songs like he did the first time and he got to me again, I didn't want him to so I had to leave."

"His way back into your heart? Honey, I didn't know you and Justin were having problems," Peyton said.

"Yeah, well you were too busy with yours and Dad's problems," Michelle commented cynically.

"I'm sorry," Peyton said.

"Oh well, I'm out of here anyways," Michelle stoically replied.

"What are you talking about?" Peyton asked. She hadn't caught Michelle the first time she'd mentioned leaving.

"I'm gonna go live with Dad, I want out of Tree Hill and if I stay here one of us is going to kill the other," Michelle said simply.

"Oh honey, no, don't leave," Peyton said. "You're halfway through high school now, you can't leave. And we can work on not killing each other," Peyton pushed to keep her daughter there. With her husband gone now, she didn't really have anybody else. Sure, she had friends, but her daughter was a different matter.

"I want out of Tree Hill," Michelle said.

"Honey, your dad doesn't even know where he's going yet," Peyton said. "He's just living over in Wilmington right now."

"I don't care," Michelle said.

"You're going to end up having to move twice if you move with your dad most likely," Peyton said. "Please, just stay with me until your dad figures out where he's going. You can visit but, don't leave yet."

"Fine," Michelle said. "I'm going back in."

"I'm going to stay out," Peyton said, still upset over Brooke just randomly popping up.

"Whatever," Michelle said. For a second she felt like she should ask her mom what had happened to have her come fleeing outside onto the back stairs where Michelle had retreated back to after fleeing out the front of TRIC at Justin's song. But she decided it didn't matter and went back in.

Haley was talking with Nathan and Lucas when Lucas suddenly dropped his drink, the beer bottle breaking on impact with the floor. He didn't even look at the broken shards as Haley quickly went to work cleaning up with the brush and dustpan Peyton and Karen kept behind the counter.

"What's up?" Nathan asked, confused by Lucas's face, a mix of amaze and confusion. Lucas said nothing, but Nathan followed his line of vision. Haley had cleaned up quickly since the bottle had been nearly empty and looked as well.

Looking very distraught at the bar was a woman who couldn't be confused for anybody but Brooke Davis herself. Lucas couldn't be shaken from her; it was the woman who had broken his heart but leaving without a word and never attempting contact.

As if she felt the three sets of eyes on her Brooke looked up and saw Nathan, Haley, and Lucas.

She cautiously moved towards them, praying that they wouldn't be a repeat of Peyton.

"Hi guys," she said as she approached them.

"Michelle, thank God I found you," Justin said. "I've been looking since I got off stage."

"I was out back," Michelle said. "I left."

"While I was playing?"

"Yes, while you were playing, do you have a problem with that?" Michelle coldly replied. She really wanted alcohol but she could never get away with it at TRIC, too many people knew her since her mom was the main operator and practically the owner, Karen promised her in two years she would finally retire and the entire place would be Peyton's.

"Well, it's just, I dedicated my last song to you," Justin said.

"I know, that's when I left."

"You left during my song for you?" Justin was confused.

"Yes," Michelle said. "Stop trying to get back into my heart with your songs Justin, we're done."

"Michelle, is this because you're leaving? Come on, we can still work on it, I love you and you love me," Justin pleaded; he'd never been one to act like he didn't care.

"You've got two things wrong there," Michelle said coldly. "One is that I'm not leaving, at least not yet, and the other is that I love you." With that she retreated to a far corner of TRIC, Justin knew better than to follow her.

"Brooke?" Nathan asked, he still couldn't believe it, but sure enough, it was Brooke Davis.

"Hi guys, surprised?"

"Just a little," Haley said. "It's good to see you Brooke," she hugged Brooke. "How long are you in town?"

"Well I'm back for good," Brooke said. She quickly noticed Lucas hadn't said anything, and he didn't appear to be even making an attempt. "Hey Luke," she said sweetly.

"How…how…how could you?" Lucas asked, he turned and walked away.

"Well I guess nobody's really happy to have me back," Brooke said, looking at Haley and Nathan, Haley just gave her a sympathy smile, similar to the one she'd given Peyton earlier that day, and Nathan avoided eye contact with Brooke, searching for where everybody had gotten off to.


	4. Late Night Talks

**Finding the Only One Tree Hill**

By Emily Carol

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill, just the CDs and DVDs and my obsession with James Lafferty. On the other hand…Jessica, Michelle, Lauren, and Justin are all mine! So don't steal.

**A/N**: I'm very sorry about not updating this FOREVER, I know you probably hate me. But I have been writing, on my personal site and I have two One Tree Hill pieces that are not here, including one I'm really excited about The Search for Who He Was, and Is which is AU (my favorite type of fanfic). So please check that out but in the meantime…

Enjoy!

-Emily Carol

**Chapter 3: **_Late Night Talks_

"I'm really worried about Lucas," Haley told her husband as they snuggled into bed for the night. "I wish I could have found him after the Brooke incident but I didn't want to crowd him."

"I know exactly what you mean," Nathan said.

"Don't lie, you hate comforting other men," Haley teased him.

"Okay, yeah," he replied. "But what is up with Brooke just randomly popping up after almost eighteen years? And she's not giving us any answers either. I wonder how Peyton's gonna take it."

"She didn't take it well," Haley replied. "I talked to her, she saw Brooke before Lucas did and totally bitched her out."

"Did you just say 'totally bitched her out'?" Nathan questioned his wife. "Are we still in high school?"

"Well we both spend a lot of time there," Haley said. She also worked at Tree Hill High, a choir director in the newly founded music program.

Brooke lay back on her hotel bed. Their furniture hadn't arrived from New York yet, a lot of their stuff hadn't, so they were staying in a hotel for the next few nights. She felt awful about the scene with Lucas, how she just popped up on him. But how else was she supposed to do it?

She'd left all those years ago and broken his heart, she'd known it as she was doing it too. But she couldn't bear to see what would happen with his life if she had dropped that bombshell on him.

It had only been two years since the surgery that had fixed his heart, no more HCM, when she'd found out. He had finally gotten back on track with basketball, pro scouts were going after him and she couldn't just ruin all of that for him.

She loved him too much for that.

Lucas stared at the hotel looming in front of him. It was the nicest hotel in Tree Hill, Brooke had to be there.

How could she do this to him? Just pop up after being gone almost eighteen years. After she'd ruined his life by breaking her heart.

He'd had pro scouts after him, but after Brooke left, he just couldn't put his heart into it. It was ironic; his heart had kept him from playing before the surgery and two years after his heart was keeping him from playing again. And that's when he fell back onto his major in secondary education and went to Tree Hill High to work as the rest of his friends pursued their dreams; Peyton to the large record label, Haley to recording again, despite the twins, and Nathan to the pro leagues. And while eventually they had all returned to Tree Hill themselves, Haley and Nathan even back to Tree Hill High with him, he'd always resented Brooke for keeping him from his dream.

Lucas finally got up the courage and walked into the hotel. He got the number of Brooke's room and marched up to the door and knocked loudly.

Peyton flipped through one of the scrapbooks Brooke had made for her over their long friendship. This one dated back to seventh grade and every picture featured the duo and their large smiles. Cheerleading was also a huge staple, because seventh grade had been the year that Brooke had gotten into cheerleading even more, and Peyton had followed along as always.

The staircase creaked behind Peyton and she turned around to see Michelle sneaking down the stairs.

"Michelle," she said with a warning tone. "Where were you going?"

"Just outside?" Michelle tired. "For some fresh air?"

"Nice try, go back upstairs."

"What are you even doing down here Peyton? It's nearly one," Michelle chided.

"Excuse me, Peyton? I thought it was Mom," Peyton replied.

"I figured since you and John were getting divorced I'd stop calling you Mom and Dad," Michelle said defiantly.

"Well un-figure that and go back to Mom and Dad," Peyton told her. Michelle just rolled her eyes. "Now go back to bed." But instead Michelle walked over to the couch Peyton was curled up on and sat down next to her.

"What are those?" Michelle asked. She had surprised herself even in trying to connect with her mother, something she never did.

"Scrapbooks, my friend made them for me a long time ago," Peyton replied.

"Haley?" Michelle asked.

"No, I didn't even know Haley in this one," Peyton said. "These are from my friend Brooke," a hint of sadness was in Peyton's voice as she said Brooke's name.

"Why haven't I heard of Brooke before?" Michelle asked.

"Because right before our senior year of college she disappeared, she didn't even come to your dad and mine wedding," Peyton explained. "Broke poor Lucas's heart in the process and that's when he didn't go back to basketball and go pro like everybody expected."

"That's why love sucks," Michelle said. "It gets in the way of everything you really want to do."

"Like what?" Peyton asked.

"Just a lot," Michelle said. "Think about how much fun I could have had dating if I hadn't been tied to Justin all that time."

"Michelle, I don't want you looking at love like that," Peyton said. "Love can be screwed up, but other times it's amazing."

"How would you know? I didn't think you'd ever been in love," Michelle replied coldly.

"I've been in love," Peyton said.

"Well certainly not with Dad," Michelle stoically pointed out.

"You're right," Peyton said.

"What?" Michelle screeched, amazed her mother would admit that.

"I was never really in love with your father, I just thought I was," Peyton said. "I was using him to replace Jake."

"Jake who?" Michelle asked.

And with that mother and daughter finally began to connect as they dug into the past.

"What's wrong little brother?" Jessica asked, standing in Justin's doorway.

"Don't call me that," Justin grumbled. Jessica had a few minutes on him and she always liked to rub it in. A bit like Uncle Lucas was with her dad.

"Sorry," Jessica said, she made her way into Justin's room and sat down on the edge of his bed. He was flat on his back staring at the ceiling. "So what happened?"

"Michelle told me she didn't love me anymore," Justin replied softly.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," Jessica tried to consol him.

"No, she meant it," Justin said. Jessica wasn't sure but she thought she saw him blinking back tears. Justin had always been the more emotional of the two, her mom said it came with the musician's territory.

"I'm sorry," Jessica said, not sure of what else to say after that.

"Lucas?" Brooke squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright light in the hall.

"Why Brooke? Why?" Lucas asked her furiously. He wasn't drunk but two more beers would put him there so he was slightly wobbly and unsure of what he was doing.

"Why what?" Brooke asked confused.

"Why did you have to come back? You broke my heart and you ruined my dreams," Lucas said accusingly. "You left and I didn't play basketball anymore, I didn't go pro, and now I'm a school teacher. A fucking school teacher. For that matter, why did you have to leave in the first place?"

"Mom?" Lauren's groggy voice came from in the room. "Who's there?"

Lucas looked at Brooke, confused. But she just blinked back the tears and softly shut the door in his face.


	5. Surprising Visits in the Night

**Finding the Only One Tree Hill**

By Emily Carol

**Disclaimer**: I do not own One Tree Hill, just the CDs and DVDs and my obsession with James Lafferty. On the other hand, Michelle, Justin, Jessica, and Lauren are all mine…so don't steal!

Song credit for this chapter goes to Snow Patrol and their song "You Could Be Happy.

Sorry this took me forever to update! A little bit of writer's block. Anyways, on top of this story here I've also recently my AU One Tree Hill fanfic The Search for Who He Was, and Is which I've updated a little more often. So check that out! Now I'm done endorsing my own writing and you can read the new chapter.

Enjoy!  
-Emily Carol

**Chapter 4**: _Surprising Visits in the Night_

"Haley! Haley James Scott!" Lucas yelled into the dark house. Her name was slurred together as he yelled it, causing most of the lights in the house to brighten as Haley came running down the stairs to where Lucas stood in the front doorway. Judging by his drunken state, Haley was surprised he had been able to open the door with his key at all.

"Lucas, what are you doing here?" Haley asked, trying to quiet her friend. But Nathan and the twins had already appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Brooke," he said. "I went to her hotel, she was there, with a daughter. I didn't see her, but she sounded older. I think…I think she cheated on me Hales. I loved her. I still do, and she cheated."

"Luke, maybe she was born after Brooke left," Haley tried to comfort her old friend.

"Then why would she leave?" Lucas asked.

"Luke, did you go to Brooke drunk?" Haley asked.

"No, I wasn't drunk then," Lucas slurred. "I was just a bit tipsy. But now," he let out a drunken laugh, "now I'm drunk."

"Jessica, Justin," Nathan told his kids. "Go to your rooms, stay there. Your mom and I will handle this." The twins both nodded and headed to their rooms as their dad made his way down the stairs.

"Listen, Luke," Nathan said as he reached his wife and brother. "Why don't you sleep on the couch tonight. We'll deal with this in the morning." Lucas nodded and lay down on the couch. Two seconds later he was out cold.

"Thanks," Haley said. "You're good in a crisis."

"Not really," Nathan replied, putting his arm around his wife as they headed back up the stairs.

"Yes really," Haley said. She kissed in on the cheek and settled into his arms as they reached their room and fell into bed.

"Can you believe it about Uncle Lucas?" Jessica asked. "He's in love with some woman named Brooke who cheated on him and left and had a child? I never knew so much about him."

"Can you believe you're still in my room obsessing over this?" Justin asked. He was laying back on his bed, guitar in hand, strumming some random cords.

"Are you still moping over Michelle?" Jessica asked.

"I'm not moping," Justin protested.

"Look," Jessica told him. "I don't want to sit around her and interrupt your moping so I'm going to go back to my room. But if you want her back, I'd suggest making some grand gesture and to not drag me into any of this because there is no way in hell I want to be stuck between my brother and my best friend." With that she stormed out of his room and back to her own.

Justin lay there for a moment, contemplating his sister's words. Then he was up, throwing his guitar into its case and opening the window. His room was above the wraparound porch and made for easy escapes because of the shorter roof below him. Guitar in hand he made the quick escape; out the window, cautiously down to the end of the porch roof, guitar gently down into the bushes below, and then jumping himself into the same bushes a few feet over. He grabbed his guitar and headed down the street. He had found his grand gesture.

Michelle lay flat on her back, eyes wide open, contemplating everything her mother had told her that night. Her parents had been married for seventeen years almost, and the entire time her mother hadn't loved her father. Did that make the divorce her mothers fault? She couldn't comprehend everything that was going on, it was all too difficult.

As she lay there, she began to hear the faint strumming of a guitar. Slowly, a voice she knew too well broke in through her open window.

"You could be happy and I won't know / But you weren't happy the day I watched you go," Justin's voice was clear and gorgeous. The way it had always been. "And all the things that I wished I had not said / Are played on lips 'till it's madness in my head."

His singing was what had made her see who he really was, and she had loved him for it.

"Is it too late to remind you how we were / But not our last days of silence, screaming, blur."

Justin was sweet and kind; the opposite of Michelle's sharp edges. Somehow they had worked.

"Most of what I remember makes me sure / I should have stopped you from walking out the door."

Michelle didn't know if she loved Justin anymore. She very well might have. But what was love anyway? She had always thought her mother and father were in love, look how wrong she was about that.

"You could be happy, I hope you are / You made me happier than I'd been by far."

She couldn't do to Justin what her mother had done to her mom. Justin was too good for her.

"Somehow everything I own smells of you / And for the tiniest moment it's all not true."

She got up slowly, headed towards her open window. She knew Justin was sitting below it.

"Do the things that you always wanted to / Without me there to hold you back, don't think, just do."

She began to comprehend what he was saying. She listened to the last bars of the song intently.

"More than anything I want to see you go / Take a glorious bite out of the whole world."

Finally, she stuck her head out of her open window. "That was beautiful." She told him.

"I love you Michelle," Justin said. "Please, just let me back into your life."

Tears filled Michelle's eyes. She knew she was breaking his heart, but she had little else she could do. She couldn't hurt him like her mother did.

"I'm sorry Justin," she said. And with that she slowly closed her window. She lay down on her bed and curled into the fetal position, allowing the tears to flow freely.

For one night, Michelle let Justin break down that shield around her heart.

Peyton stared at the divorce papers, fiddling with the pen in her fingers. A few minutes ago she had heard Justin outside of Michelle's window, playing his guitar. She had just allowed herself to sink into the music for those moments. And now it was time to face reality.

Her pen was poised over the first spot for her signature when the back door, leading into the kitchen were she sat, flung open. Peyton gasped, and then realized that it was John standing in her doorway.

"John? What are you doing here?" Peyton stammered.

"I want you back Peyton. I can live with the fact that you don't love me because I love you too much. I love you and our daughter and I want to be able to love our life. I won't cheat on you again, I'll go to counseling, anything you want. Please Peyton, please."


	6. Tiny Little Fractures

**Finding the Only One Tree Hill**

By Emily Carol

**Disclaimer:** I do not own One Tree Hill, just the CDs and DVDs and my obsession with James Lafferty.

Sorry it's taking forever to update, but here's another chapter (finally…)

Enjoy!

-Emily Carol

---

**Chapter 5**: Tiny Little Fractures

"Wake up little brother! Bathroom's yours," Jessica yelled as she headed downstairs for breakfast. It was the first day of school and Jessica, having inherited their mother's love of school, was up, dressed, and packed to go. Now she was just waiting for her slow poke of a brother, who inherited their father's hate of school, to be ready to go.

Justin groaned and rolled over, falling out of his bed in the process and yelling out in pain. Sitting up he heard a laugh and looked at his door to see his mom standing there.

"Not ready for school yet?" Haley asked him.

"School sucks," Justin replied groggily as he stood up and walked passed his mom towards the bathroom.

---

"Michelle," Peyton prodded the pile of blankets that covered her daughter. "Get up, school starts in an hour."

Michelle groaned and pulled herself farther under her comforter. Peyton sighed and stood up and pulled all the blankets off Michelle's bed. "Do you want to take the bus or should I drive you on my way to the studio?"

"Drive," Michelle groaned, pushing her blonde curls out of her face as she dragged herself out of bed.

"Morning sweetie," John Matthews kissed his daughter as she walked passed the master bedroom door on her way to the bathroom.

"Morning Dad," Michelle mumbled before closing herself into the bathroom.

"Hey Peyton," John said, facing his wife who stood in Michelle's doorway.

"Morning," Peyton said softly, she walked up to him and planted a soft kiss on his cheek before heading downstairs for breakfast.

---

"Justin!" Jessica yelled up the stairs. "Move your ass!"

"Shut up!" Justin yelled down. "School doesn't start for twenty minutes and it only takes five to get there!"

"I have a meeting in the tutor center!" Jessica yelled. "And I wanted to meet up with some of the team before class!"

Justin groaned, he didn't want to go to school today. And not even just for the normal hating school reasons. Earlier in the summer, when their schedules had been mailed out, Justin and Michelle had been happy to discover they had a lot of their classes together, and now Justin had to go to school and see her.

He hadn't talked to or seen Michelle since the night he'd played the Snow Patrol song outside her window. He knew from his parents that Michelle's dad had come back and her parents were now trying to work things out, meaning Michelle wasn't leaving any time soon.

"Jessica, just leave with your mom," Nathan yelled down to his daughter. "I'll take Justin with me."

"Thanks Dad," Justin mumbled. He was still packing up his backpack as he heard the door close and the engine on Haley's car start as half the family left.

---

"Mrs. Diehl, it's Jessica Scott," Jessica yelled as she walked into the apparently empty tutor center. Mrs. Diehl abruptly popped up from behind a filing cabinet and Jessica jumped. "Geez Mrs. Diehl, you're gonna give me a heart attack."

"Hi Jessica," Mrs. Diehl said. "Thank you so much for coming into see me, I have a student for you."

"Already? Don't we normally wait a week or so before we start tutoring?" Jessica asked.

"Well, our student is a move-in, she's from New York City and her school was farther behind than Tree Hill is," Mrs. Diehl explained. "So I was hoping you'd help her until she gets a grasp of what's going on."

"Um, sure," Jessica said. She liked tutoring, but she had hoped that she'd be able to get some pre-season basketball workouts in after school and maybe keep her tutoring schedule down until after the season, which didn't even start until November.

"Well her name is Lauren Davis, she should be here soon," Mrs. Diehl said. "Although she may be caught up with some final paperwork in the office, I'll leave you here and if she doesn't show up in the next five to ten minutes I'll find you later in the day. Now I must be off!" With that Mrs. Diehl half-skipped, as was her custom, out of the tutor center. Jessica dropped her backpack on the ground next to the supervisor's desk for the tutor center and sat down at it. So much for meeting the basketball team before first period.

---

"Wow, this is a lot of paperwork," Brooke commented to a sullen Lauren.

"Well maybe if we hadn't moved then you wouldn't have to be doing this," Lauren said.

"Not this again," Brooke warned her. "You will like it here, don't worry." Lauren didn't say anything in reply but instead sunk lower in her seat.

"Hello Mrs. Davis, Lauren," Principal Turner said, entering his office where the two sat.

"It's Ms. Davis," Brooke corrected him. "Brooke is fine as well."

"Brooke Davis? Wow, I never expected to see you back here," Principal Turner smiled. "And this is your daughter?"

"Yes, this is Lauren, she's seventeen," Brooke told him.

"Senior?"

"Junior," Lauren scowled.

"The year Lauren should have started kindergarten we spent a year in Milan for my work instead," Brooke explained. "She's a year behind due to that."

"I see, well Lauren, I think you will enjoy Tree Hill High," Principal Turner said. "Here's your schedule and you'll be meeting your tutor to help you catch up to where we are here, I think during your lunch period. If you can report to the tutor center which is near the cafeteria then, you can meet Jessica."

"Sounds great," Lauren said. "Can I go now?"

"Yes," Principal Turner replied and Lauren sulked off.

"Well I better be leaving too, I need to go supervise the carpenters at the boutique," Brooke said. She'd recently acquired storefront to start her boutique to sell her clothes in, as well as other aspiring designers in the area.

"It was good seeing you again Brooke," Principal Turner said as she left his office. "Although, hopefully your daughter will be less of a handful." Brooke just laughed and went on her way.

---

Justin's foot was propped up on the back leg of Jessica's desk and he was causing it to shake by the jiggling of his leg.

"Could you maybe stop that?" His twin hissed as she tried to pay attention to their Algebra 2 and Trigonometry teacher. Math was one of the few classes the twins had together as Jessica had mostly honors classes. Besides math they also shared gym and lunch, which were three classes too many it often seemed.

"I hate alphabetical seating," Justin mumbled. Scott had them placed in the last two seats of the last row; Michelle Matthews was at the front of their row, her blonde locks clearly visible from Justin's seat. It was like this through most of the classes that morning, it was almost lunch and Justin couldn't wait to get away.

"You're not over it yet?" Jessica hissed at him. "It's been two weeks, she's fine."

"I would prefer if you didn't spend time with my ex-girlfriend," Justin replied coldly.

"Hey, she's my friend too, you can't stop me," Jessica replied.

"Miss Scott, Mr. Scott," their teacher, Mr. Raymond turned to face the twins, "Is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"Well actually…" Jessica began before Justin kicked her desk to shut her up.

"No sir, sorry," Justin replied. Their teacher nodded and went back to outlining the first semester.

---

"Sorry I'm late," Peyton said with a smile as she entered the marriage counselor's office. "Hi, I'm Peyton Sawyer-Matthews, we talked on the phone."

"Hello Peyton, I'm Dr. Clark, take a seat next to your husband," Dr. Clark shook her hand before Peyton sat down.

"So you two almost just went through with divorce?" Dr. Clark asked.

"Wow, we're really just jumping in here," Peyton commented.

"Yes, I had cheated on Peyton a few times and we weren't happy," John explained. "But a few weeks ago I came back and told her I wanted to make it work out."

"Peyton, why do you think you weren't happy with John?" Dr. Clark turned to talking to Peyton now.

"I never really got over a past love, I've never exactly been in love with John," Peyton admitted truthfully. "But he wants to make it work even knowing that and I have to see if we can."

"Why did you come back then John? If you knew she didn't love you and you had somebody else with feelings for you?"

"Well my girlfriend left me," John said bluntly.

"What?" Peyton asked, looking cautiously at John. "I thought you left her, because you loved me and Michelle."

"Well no," John laughed nervously. "I never said who left whom; I just said I came back."

"So you lied," Peyton said.

"No Peyton, I didn't lie," John protested.

"But you did by omission," Peyton reasoned. "You had me believe you came back because you loved me and Michelle, not because Amy left you. I took you back because I believed you loved me, and that you loved our daughter." Peyton paused a second before continuing, "But now, I don't think I can."

"Peyton, please hold on," Dr. Clark said. "Don't make any hasty decisions."

"No Dr. Clark," Peyton replied. "This isn't a hasty decision. John has cheated on me more than once; Amy was one in a string of girlfriends. I had enough and I finally admitted that I had never loved him and so he left and you know what? I was relieved. And now, I've finally got the closure for the end of this because he doesn't care about me and Michelle like I though he did, so that's it. We're done." She turned to face John, "I'm going back to the studio now and I'll be home at three, I expect you to be gone."

Confidently, Peyton stood up and walked out of the counselor's office.

---

"Jessica Scott, this is Lauren Davis," Mrs. Diehl introduced the two.

"Hi Lauren," Jessica said, shaking the dark-haired girl's hand. Lauren just nodded stoically in return.

"I'll leave you two alone to set up a schedule," Mrs. Diehl said, half-skipping out of the office, as usual.

"So when is it good for you to meet to study?" Jessica asked politely.

"Whenever, not like there's anything to do in this hick town," Lauren replied, falling down into a chair at one of the tables.

_This is going to be a blast_, Jessica thought to herself as she sat down next to Lauren.

---

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Michelle called, walking through the front door of their house.

"I'm in the kitchen," Peyton replied.

Michelle walked to the back of the house and saw her mom sitting at the kitchen table, papers in front of her and a pen poised in her hand.

"Where's Dad?" Michelle asked.

"I'm really sorry," Peyton sympathetically soothed her daughter.

"Sorry for what?" Michelle asked.

Peyton pushed the papers across the table and Michelle looked down at them, quickly realizing they were the divorce papers. "Your dad left this afternoon," Peyton told her. "I made him leave."

"What?" Michelle yelled. "I thought you two were going to start counseling today. I thought you were going to work through this together."

"And I realized that it isn't going to work out," Peyton said.

"But he loves us! He loves you," Michelle continued yelling.

"He doesn't love me," Peyton said softly, trying to calm down her daughter.

"Yes he does!You're just the bitch that chases him away," Michelle yelled before running out of the room and up the stairs. A few moments later Peyton heard her door slam and made the decision to wait until morning for Michelle to cool down.

---

"Hey Mom," Jessica walked into the family room where her mom sat with her guitar. "What're you up to?"

"Just some practicing," Haley replied. "How was school?"

"Fine," Jessica said. "I have a tutoring student already."

"Really? Already?" Haley asked.

"She's a move-in from New York," Jessica told her. "Lauren Davis."

"What grade?"

"Junior," Jessica replied. "I'll let you get back to work," she told her mother before she left the family room.

Haley sat there, shocked. Lucas had been right in saying that Brooke's daughter was older. And if this Lauren was a Junior, that could mean that Brooke had cheated on Lucas and that's why she'd left.

Nobody had talked to Brooke since she'd come back to Tree Hill. Haley knew she had tried to contact Peyton multiple times and Haley herself had been called three or four times in past month. Lucas refused to talk about her, let alone to her. Not that Brooke had tried between his reaction at TRIC her first night and his near-drunken visit later that night.

Now Brooke's offspring was attending the same school as the twins and Michelle. And the same school Haley, Nathan, and Lucas all taught at.

Things were about to get interesting.

---

Tree Hill was dark. It was slightly before midnight and Michelle shouldered her backpack and grabbed her sketchbook before pushing open her bedroom window. She slipped out onto the porch roof that extended below her bedroom windows and climbed down one of the supporting posts.

She took one last look back at her house and started to walk along the lit streets.

If she had it her way, this would be her last time in Tree Hill.


End file.
